The Damned (The Beautiful #2)(68)

“What are you doing here?” Jae rasps, the tendons in his neck straining with awareness.

“It’s time we had a discussion, Jaehyuk-ah,” Madeleine says softly.

He whirls in place. But her distraction has served its purpose.

Before Jae has a chance to flee, Arjun grabs him by the wrist, freezing the assassin where he stands.

Exactly as we planned.





JAE





The instant Arjun’s hand touched Jae’s wrist, Jae knew all was lost.

The last time he’d been bested like this was long ago in Hunan Province, when the warlock Mo Gwai had tortured him for a month in a cavern deep beneath the earth. Jae would bear the scars of that ordeal for the rest of his immortal life. In a way, he was grateful for them. They served as a constant reminder of his greatest failure.

That time in the cavern had been the beginning of the end for Jae. The darkest nights of his memory. A time when revenge had consumed him like tinder in a blaze. It wasn’t until the smoke cleared that Jae had realized the depths of his failure.

The true price of his retribution.

To make his revenge possible, Jae had struck a bargain with the Lady of the Vale. The consequences mattered not to him. Only the outcome. And now these consequences had come home to rear their heads.

A fitting end to a chain of events set in motion so long ago.

Jae stared at his found family. The ones he’d come to value more than life itself. Even though Arjun’s touch froze Jae where he stood, it still left him in possession of his faculties. He could see, hear, taste, and smell with the heightened senses of a vampire. Humans were usually rendered completely unconscious by Arjun’s gift. Perhaps, given the circumstances, Jae would have preferred that.

No. He deserved their anger. Their heartbreak. Their judgment.

“Hurry,” Arjun said, his hazel eyes wide, his jaw clenched. “Jae is strong. He won’t remain immobile for long. And I’d rather not be here if and when he breaks free.”

Despair choked like bile in Jae’s throat. As soon as the magic wore off, his brothers and sisters expected to meet the full breadth of his fury. They were no doubt counting on that. Emotions made even the best warrior weak. Made them unable to see past their own desires.

Jae knew this truth better than most. Revenge had blinded him to all else. Even after he exacted punishment on Mo Gwai—even after he relished his enemy’s final screams—it had been a hollow victory. The peace Jae fought to achieve was nothing more than an illusion, gone with the fruit of his dark purpose.

Madeleine stepped into his sight line, her brown eyes haunted, her cheeks hollow. More than anything, Jae wished he could turn away from this face. He could not look at her. He did not want to look at her. The pain in his chest was too great, like the weight of a thousand worlds pressing down upon him.

A century ago, Jae would have given anything to see the light in her eyes. The way her smile turned up the rest of her features, tilting them toward the sky. Jae willed Madeleine to avert her gaze. But she was Madeleine. She would never do what he wanted. Only what he needed.

Bastien moved beside her, his expression detached. “Did you think we wouldn’t find out you were in league with the Lady of the Vale?” His voice was like ice cleaving off a mountain. “Did you think we would not discover the breadth of your duplicity? I suppose I should no longer be surprised by such a betrayal, especially after Nigel.”

“You will answer for this, Shin Jaehyuk.” Madeleine stumbled over the words, her lower lip quavering. So uncharacteristic of her. “Comment as-tu pu faire cela?”

How could you do this?

For years, Jae had nursed the belief Madeleine might understand. After all, she’d surrendered everything for the sake of Hortense, who would have died of disease if Nicodemus had refused to turn her. For the sake of her family, Madeleine renounced her affections for Jae. Nicodemus had not wanted his best assassin to form an earthly attachment.

So she relinquished her love. Jae had not protested. He should have fought for her. Should have argued with Nicodemus. But revenge so consumed him that even Madeleine did not matter. When he realized the error of his ways, it was too late.

Sensation returned to the tips of Jae’s fingers and toes, yet he did not move. Not yet.

His brothers and sisters were not the only ones capable of setting a trap.

Arjun stood behind him, ready to freeze Jae once more, should he attack. They expected Jae to strike with his usual swiftness. Even Jae had to admit it was the best way for him to escape. Strike hard and fast and true. If he injured one of them enough to distract the others, he could buy himself the chance to flee into the night and make his way back to the mirror in his flat. From there, he could travel to Lady Silla and inform her of the recent happenings.

The rational side of Jae knew this was the best course of action. In fact, he’d already chosen which of them he would injure. Not enough to cause permanent harm, but enough to provoke a necessary response. To send a ripple of confusion through their ranks.

But Jae couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t strike out at them. Instead he would flee. Disappear into the misted night. He’d done it before. He could do it again. He would not have it on his head if he hurt any member of his family.

It would all come down to an instant. Less than an instant.

The moment sensation returned to Jae’s knees, he blurred into the darkness of the sugar shed and knelt in the shadows, intent on taking up the least amount of space. Cries of frustration trailed in his wake. All around him, the smell of sugar permeated the air, its dust coiling through the moonlight filtering from the wooden slats.